Excerpted from Duchess at Home

Pain perdu, literally ‘lost bread,’ usually refers to French toast, bread pudding, or any dish where stale bread is used to soak up liquid and cooked, thus giving it new life (the bread is no longer lost!).

In this recipe, the combination of almonds, citrus, and white wine really elevates it and makes it more sophisticated than your standard bread pudding. Don’t worry—the alcohol evaporates during baking, which makes this a suitable dish for adults and children alike.

Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients 

• 200 g (1 cup) sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 large eggs
• zest of one orange
• 240 g (1 cup) white wine
• 75 g (⅓ cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 5 cups (about half a loaf) stale French bread, cut into 1- to 2-inch cubes
• 50 g (½ cup) sliced almonds
• 50 g (⅓ cup) dried currants, raisins, or cranberries
• 35 g (¼ cup) crystallized ginger

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter the baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, eggs, and orange zest.
3. Add the wine and slowly whisk in the butter until well combined.
4. Add the bread cubes, sliced almonds, currants, and crystallized ginger and, using your hands, toss to make sure that all the pieces of bread are well coated. Let soak for 10 minutes.
5. Pour the mixture into the baking dish and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crispy.

Tips

• Ingredient Note - For the wine, I like to use a sauvignon blanc for its acidity, but feel free to use any left- over white wine you might have. For a nicer flavour, steer clear of ‘cooking wine’ and stick with something that you would normally drink.
• Serving & Storage - This bread pudding is best eaten the day it’s made. It will keep at room temperature for up to three days and should be reheated prior to serving.
• Equipment - You will need a 9-inch baking dish.

Excerpted from Duchess at Home by Giselle Courteau.
Text copyright © 2019 Giselle Courteau. Design and Photography © 2019 Sarah Hervieux. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.